Li Fei's opening alley-oop poster dunk sent a shock from the depths of their souls through China's Basketball Trio.
These three were no ordinary basketball fans. They were all veteran basketball experts, and Xu Jicheng had even once been a player on a provincial youth basketball team.
Without being modest, they had all seen plenty.
But an alley-oop poster dunk like Li Fei's, where his heels had nearly taken off from the free-throw line—
They had truly never seen one before.
Let alone these three Chinese experts.
At that moment, in a VIP suite at the Great Western Forum—
The Logo, Jerry West, and Lakers vice president Mitch Kupchak, who were watching the live broadcast, were both utterly dumbfounded.
"What the shit?"
"That dunk should go down in history, right?"
Kupchak's mouth twitched. "That guy just blew up the Great Western Forum."
Even the cigar in The Logo's hand trembled slightly. "Had I known, I should've watched this game in person. That dunk was worth seeing live."
The Logo was someone who had seen it all in the NBA.
He had won MVP, won championships, and made twelve All-NBA teams.
It could be said that there was no scene he had not witnessed.
Yet Li Fei's dunk—
Even if Basketball Emperor Wilt Chamberlain had been called in, he would probably have been wary of it.
The camera returned to the court.
"So this is how you plan to restore Michigan to glory?"
After landing from the dunk—
Li Fei looked down at the stunned Juwan lying on the floor and offered a friendly greeting. "Welcome to the poster moment, buddy!"
A poster moment, in other words, meant—
Juwan would become tonight's finest backdrop!
The Paul George of the '90s.
"Motherfucker!"
Juwan Howard clenched his fists, then climbed back to his feet like a man.
At the same time, he knew that tonight—
Either he or Li Fei had to die!
"Swish!"
Li Fei made the free throw as well.
3:0
On the way back—
Jalen Rose and Juwan Howard ran a handoff. The instant Juwan handed over the ball, he suddenly cut toward the basket.
In a rush, Li Fei quickly rotated down to protect the rim.
After receiving the ball, Jalen Rose suddenly pulled up and calmly buried a three-point jumper.
3:3
This season, Jalen Rose, who averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, played exactly like the future JR Smith: steady, yet also possessing that streaky, explosive scorer's quality.
After the change of possession, the Golden Bears set up their half-court offense.
"Help defense!"
At that moment, University of Michigan head coach Steve Fisher gestured for help defense in the paint.
Then, the instant Li Fei received the ball—
Riley, the Meat Shield who had just been planted beneath the basket, quietly shifted his feet behind Li Fei's back and moved into a perfect help-defense position.
"Oho!"
Marv Albert immediately spotted the scheme. "The Wolverines have sent Juwan Howard to guard Li Fei closely, while Eric Riley under the basket is ready to help at any moment."
"They're indeed using a front-and-back defensive concept."
The Red Giant, Bill Walton, instantly broke down Michigan's defense. "Juwan uses his lower-body strength to hold Li Fei in place and prevent the direct hook shot, while Eric Riley under the basket is ready to help against Li Fei's attack on the rim at any time."
Even without Chris Webber, the University of Michigan's defensive setup had not weakened.
In fact, because Webber had to preserve energy for offense, he could not devote as much of his skill set to defense as Riley could.
In other words—
This Michigan Wolverines team applied even greater defensive pressure on Li Fei!
Faced with such a situation, China's Basketball Trio at courtside frowned deeply as well.
This level of defense had not appeared in the footage their American counterparts had sent over earlier.
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How would Li Fei break through it?
The entire arena waited in anticipation.
On the court, Li Fei held the ball with his back to the basket, established position, and viciously rammed his shoulder into Juwan Howard's torso.
Bang!
A bone-chilling sound of muscle-on-muscle impact rang out. Juwan held his breath and somehow withstood Li Fei's attack.
Li Fei was not surprised that he had failed to create space.
Instead, a mysterious smile appeared on his face.
"Hm? What's going on?"
The commentators were instantly confused when they saw Li Fei smile. "Li Fei actually smiled!"
At such a tense and thrilling moment, Li Fei was actually smiling.
What kind of script was this?
To be honest, Li Fei had never underestimated Juwan Howard's strength.
If this guy were weak, he would never have achieved that level of success in the NBA.
Not to mention that his 2.08-meter height gave him a lower center of gravity. It was not easy for Li Fei to simply knock Juwan aside.
But Li Fei smiled because...
He had finally run into an opponent worthy of making me open my skill package!
The next moment—
Before Howard's bewildered eyes, Li Fei held the ball in his left hand and suddenly began shaking his shoulders with his back to the basket.
His shoulder dipped toward the lower left in a half-turn fake, drawing Juwan's attention. Juwan immediately pressed up, only to realize that Li Fei's shoulder shake had been a fake.
He hurriedly shifted back in the opposite direction to recover, only to fall straight into Li Fei's trap.
Sensing the change in Juwan Howard's center of gravity, Li Fei planted his left foot as the pivot, touched his toe down, and spun explosively.
Titanium Alloy Joints gave Li Fei's ankles tremendous torsional rigidity.
The two spin fakes instantly left Juwan completely shaken.
WOOOOW
A wave of gasps instantly erupted throughout the Great Western Forum.
But before the fans could react, Li Fei had already raised his right hand high.
With Eric Riley too late on the help rotation, he easily made a Straight-arm hook shot.
"OH!! MY!! GOD!!!"
Bill Walton's excited roar immediately rang out from the commentary table. "What did I just see? Ladies and gentlemen, what did I just see?"
"I never imagined that Li Fei would use Dreamy Footsteps in the low post to shake Juwan completely clean!"
"When Li Fei posted up in the low block, I thought of ten thousand possibilities. He could power through with strength, he could use a One-armed Hook Shot, or he could even rise straight up for a jumper."
"But using Olajuwon-style Dreamy Footsteps to shake free from the defense was completely outside my expectations!"
The fans at the Great Western Forum were all clutching their heads in astonishment.
"Dreamy Footsteps!"
"Dreamy Footsteps!"
"Am I seeing things? That isn't Hakeem Olajuwon?"
"His footwork is way too clean!"
"How can his Dreamy Footsteps be this clean?"
"Did you see the support his ankles and knees provided his body during the spin? Powerful joint strength gave him terrifying flexibility and speed!"
"..."
Some Brother Dong in the arena had already begun analyzing Li Fei's footwork from that play.
Don't ask why everyone was reacting so strongly. A 2.24-meter player using footwork that flexible and clean—
Even in the NBA, it had never been seen before.
Meanwhile, China's Basketball Trio at courtside—
"Oh my god, that footwork!"
Su Qun was so shocked that his glasses nearly fell off. "The previous report never said Li Fei's footwork was this good!"
"What are you standing around for? Write it down!" Sun Zhengping urged.
"Oh, right, right—where's my pen?"
Coming back to his senses, Su Qun discovered that both his ballpoint pen and notebook were gone. They had fallen onto the floor.
Only when he bent down to pick up the pen did Su Qun realize—
Teacher Xu Jicheng beside him was already kneeling on the floor to watch the game.
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